DeMunn originated the role in the 2003 world premiere of the two-character play at Philadelphia Theatre Company. Its 2004 staging at Coconut Grove Playhouse in Florida starred Peter Michael Goetz and (in the uncharacteristic role of a mysterious Gestapo-hired interrogator) Lucie Arnaz. John Tillinger, who staged the Philly and Miami productions, directs the staging for MTC at its City Center Stage II location. It plays March 21-May 29.

MTC bills the work this way: "A fascinating look at art, power and censorship. Set during the German occupation of Paris, this riveting drama imagines a confrontation between Picasso and a mysterious interrogator concerning several confiscated works that the great artist might have painted."

Tillinger's MTC credits include Sylvia, House and Garden.

DeMunn's Broadway credits include The Price, K2 (1983 Best Actor Tony nomination), Bent, Comedians, Hedda Gabler, Spoils of War and Sleight of Hand. Off-Broadway work includes A Prayer for My Daughter (Drama Desk Award nomination), Modigliani, One Shoe Off, The Hand of Its Enemy and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Visit www.manhattantheatreclub.com.

*

Lisa Banes played the interrogator, Miss Fischer, in the May 2003 world premiere in Philadelphia. The work was then billed as "a cat-and-mouse mystery about art, sex, death and the lure of power."

Hatcher's plays include Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Three Viewings, Scotland Road, Sockdology and Tuesdays With Morrie. He also wrote the libretto to the Broadway musical Never Gonna Dance.

A Picasso received the Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play 2003 from the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia.